Solicitor General John Les denies that his deputy minister tried to censor politically damaging documents requested by the NDP under the Freedom of Information Act.

Les says it's true his deputy recommended changes to some of the documents, but he maintains it was all done within the law.

Solicitor General John Les says the government wasn't doing anything wrong.
(CBC)

He was responding to NDP Leader Carole James's accusation that the government had violated the Freedom of Information Act and had been trying to suppress critical information.

She had cited a handwritten note from the deputy minister that was inadvertently left attached to some internal government documents about the coroner's service released to the NDP.

The note recommends that some information be deleted, as it contradicted what the government has been saying about the coroner's budget and his ability to review child deaths in B.C.

While advice to ministers is confidential by law, James says she believes the deputy was trying to have contradictory statements deemed to be advice so they could be censored.

Les doesn't deny the authenticity of the note, but maintains it was part of an internal discussion within the bureaucracy and not an attempt to limit the release of information.

Child protection at the centre of fight
 
The battle over the note stems from another attack on the government by James, who said the solicitor general had misled the house about what's been going on in the child protection system.

She released government documents on Wednesday, in which the coroner's office says it doesn't have the authority to review all children's deaths. That led to the accusation that the deputy minister had altered those documents to suppress critical information.

On Thursday afternoon, the Speaker of the B.C. Legislature rejected the allegation that Les misled the house.
           
Bill Barisoff said it's clear that James and Les have a difference of opinion about the Coroner's Act. But that does not mean the minister misled the house.